MSNBC's Cosby leaving network

[babylonsister]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117960829.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

MSNBC's Cosby leaving network
Cable news personality to 'pursue other interests'

By MICHAEL LEARMONTH

NEW YORK -- MSNBC's Rita Cosby, known for her husky delivery and dogged pursuit of celebrity interviews, is ankling the network.

Cosby's contract was set to expire April 1. Sources said it was not going to be renewed.

"She has decided to pursue other interests," said MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines.

Cosby's show, "Rita Cosby Live and Direct," was cancelled in the summer after the network shifted to a two-hour "Doc Block" of taped documentaries from original programming in primetime.

At the time, Cosby was given an independent staff to pursue investigations, "Rita Cosby Specials Unit," but her airtime over the past eight months had been limited.

Most recently, Cosby followed the Anna Nicole Smith story to the Bahamas to attend the private funeral for the former model.

Before joining MSNBC, Cosby worked at Fox News, where she rose to prominence for her interviews with Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson and the convicted "Son of Sam" murderer, David Berkowitz.

[Greeby]

1. This is a long time coming..............

Ha-ha!

[MADem]

8. Well, I think MSNBC may have given her a soft landing in exchange for a bit of dirt dishing

Remember, she was fired from Faux for the "crimes" of being too old and too fat. It did seem interesting how they snatched her up so quickly.

When Abrams did the doc bloc thing, well, that was that. At least she's had some time to do a little job hunting.

She's a GOSSIP reporter. It's what she does. One of the network gossip newsmags should pick her up--she has "sources" galore.

[Crabby Appleton]

48. you took the word right outta my mouth nt

[rec_report]

2. Awesome! One less Reichwing troll, cluttering the airwaves.

n/t

[BeyondGeography]

3. "Husky delivery?"

More like fingernails on a blackboard. The writer is too kind.

[mwb970]

25. I saw her on there the other night and she sounded normal.

It was the strangest thing - Rita Cosby speaking in a blatantly normal-sounding, non-Rod-Stewart, non-fingernail voice! I actually checked DU later to see if someone had started a thread about it, but they hadn't.

Did anyone else notice this or am I crazy or what?

[babylonsister]

33. She had surgery!

RITA Cosby sounds less raspy following recent vocal-cord surgery, but MSNBC is still going to drop her when her contract expires on April 1. The cable network had no comment, but insiders insist the host, who has been diligently covering the Anna Nicole Smith story, is out. Cosby has been presenting daytime specials since MSNBC canceled her prime-time show, "Live & Direct," last summer.

http://www.jossip.com/gossip/rita-cosby/rita-cosby-leaving-msnbc-for-real-this-time-20070309.php

[jannyk]

46. No, you are not crazy...

I caught a brief segment last week. I had not seen her do her thing for about a year. Her voice used to make me shudder, but I noticed last week she sounded ' husky' but not nearly so cringe making as before.

She still is a total waste of space though. So a big hip, hip hoorah for her getting the boot.

[Counciltucky]

4. She's just taking some time off to clear her throat.

:rofl:

[KingFlorez]

5. She always sounds like she has a sore throat

[upi402]

6. Bush to award the Medal of Freedom

to a most deserving propagandist-dupe

[Kutjara]

7. Presumably, the "other interests" Rita Skeeter wil be pursuing...

...will be full-time stalking of any and all celebrities.

[gulfcoastliberal]

9. Ms. "Dumber than a box of rocks" fired?!

LOL

[TahitiNut]

10. Now they can get rid of Pulla Tooth, Scabrous Joe, and Fucker Carlson.

:thumbsup:

[AlCzervik]

11. at the gathering after the funereal she went and was asked to leave.

thank you Entertainment tonight for getting that on film.

[babylonsister]

13. Why? nt

[Saturday]

16. She hadn't been officially invited by Howard Stern.

Supposely the owner of the house told her she could be there. Howard booted her.

[babylonsister]

18. Wow. No love lost, huh. That's one thing Stern may have done right.

How embarrassing for her, though she probably didn't even recognize the snub.

[AlCzervik]

28. well the crack news team over at ET said she was no invited to the gathering and the

only reason she was at the funeral was because of Vergie(quell surprise) so the security guards had her removed, it was awesome.

[Saturday]

15. I saw that too.

It was funny. :rofl:

[City Lights]

12. I wish MSNBC would hire Bill Press.

We don't need Tucker's show to air twice in one day. In fact, we don't need Tucker's show to air at all. It's a total waste of airwaves and advertising money. :D

[sandnsea]

22. FLAVIA!!

Bill Press sucks. He can never decide which kind of hack he's going to be - moderate corporate suck-up or lefty chic beat up all Dems. Sad thing is, no matter which side he's on, he's always on the wrong side at the wrong time.

[LostInAnomie]

26. This will be a terrible blow to the asphalt industry.

Her hourly gargling with their product had been keeping the whole industry afloat for the past few years. What will they do now?

[AlinPA]

38. I don't quite follow the asphalt, but I'm still laughing like hell.

[ebayfool]

42. Antiseptic mouthwash, mebbe? n/t

[madinmaryland]

29. WTF are you talking about.

"corporate suck-up or lefty chic"

I listen to him in the morning and I haven't heard him beat up dems, unless they are acting liebermanlike.

:wtf:

[sandnsea]

41. "let them kill each other"

Last year he actually said that on MSNBC about Iraq. Some lefty idiot, yes they do exist, was saying it at the time and it was repulsive. Other times, he has jumped right on board beating up Dems and repeating whatever attack of the day, from Cynthia McKinney to Joe Lieberman. It all depends on who he thinks the 'cool kids' are going to be at the time.

[AlCzervik]

31. Flavia is now a correspondent for some entertainment show, i can't remember which one though.

[sandnsea]

39. She was on MSNBC today

She did a travel show on biblical locations that's supposed to be aired this month. I don't know of any entertainment show she does.

[City Lights]

36. To each his own I guess.

I like him, but there are lots of good progressives to choose from, any of whom I'd love to watch on MSNBC.

[AnnInLa]

14. Wanna join the Kossack effort to replace her with

a liberal host? Was reading one of their diaries today, and these were the suggestions:

1. Write to MSNBC at [e-mail] to tell them that even with Olbermann, you are still hungry for more liberal show hosts. They have a great opportunity to increase their viewship even more...just as they did with Olbermann.

2. Some suggestions to make: Phil Donahue, Aaron Brown (not liberal, but trustworthy), Jack Cafferty, Lawrence O'Donnell, Cliff Schecter, Rachel Maddow, any others you can think of.

I sent my email today, with the above people, but I'm sure you can think of many more.

[Dr.Phool]

19. I'd like to see Eric Alterman or Katrina Vanden Heuvel get a show.

That would rock!

[babylonsister]

32. Katrina would be AWESOME! nt

[City Lights]

21. I wrote to Dan Abrams requesting he hire Bill Press.

[e-mail]

I wouldn't mind Cafferty, O'Donnell, Alterman, or Vanden Heuvel either though! There are many talented individuals who would help increase their viewership.

[AnnInLa]

23. How about Arianna Huffington?

She kinda gets on my nerves, but wow, the contacts she has....can you imagine her guest lists?

[City Lights]

24. Another good choice!

:thumbsup:

[MADem]

55. Replace her? She has NO SHOW. She is a 'special correspondent' now.

Her LIVE AND DIRECT show was shitcanned months back.

Abrams isn't going to spend money on producers, studio sets, research staff, makeup AND a 'celebrity.' The reason she is gone is because they are SAVING MONEY. And getting MORE VIEWERS with their new format (it's the FAUX people, you see, who are flipping over).

That is what this 'doc bloc' shit is all about. They take old '48 Hours' shows, prison exposes, old NBC specials on criminals and so forth, the CATCH A PREDATOR series, old HEADLINERS AND LEGENDS (essentially, that's the B Roll of "obituary" footage that they keep handy for EVERYONE) and make up cheapo documentaries--it's so easy, an INTERN could do it. Then, they haul in John Seigenthaler or Matt Lauer or someone else to sit under a light for an hour or two and read the crawl. They paste it all together and BOB'S yer UNCLE!! They then have HOURS of shit to fill air time, without having to hire any ADDITIONAL staff!

It's cheap, and it brings in viewers!!!

I always thought they should do this--have every NBC affiliate send in five local stories every week. Everything from the house that burned down and left three families homeless, to the cat up the tree that stopped traffic in a small town. Then, some bozo could sort through them, and come up with a two hour show of good clips, reported by the LOCAL reporters, of "Behind the Headlines--News You Don't See, From Around The Nation." Since people move around so much nowadays, a lot of people will watch and say "I used to live there...I know someone who lives there..." and they might be amused, appalled, interested, or simply surprised at what happens in other parts of the country. Also, it would be cheap. Give that to John Siegenthaler, too! He could do the bridges, the intro and the ending...it would take him five or ten minutes once a week.

[Deb]

17. Her resume- "Execution Witness Lottery Winner"

I'm sure that will qualify her for a glam job on TV, somewhere.

[Miss Chybil]

20. She got kicked out of the Smith reception, too. nt

[Quantess]

27. Her vocal folds thank her!

She needs vocal rest, desperately.
(For the rest of us, our ears need rest.)

[tanyev]

30. "She has decided to pursue other interests"

[trumad]

50. It took 30 posts to get this pic in..???..

LOL---It's one of the greatest pics of all time because it puts modern day journalism in a perfect nutshell.

[TroglodyteScholar]

51. Wow, that's really truly pathetic...

...if that were my job, I'd quit and apply to be a Wal-mart greeter. (No offense to Wal-mart greeters...they usually do a fine job that doesn't involve any kind of harrassment.)

[lonestarnot]

34. My clicker has one less to click off. Heh

:applause:

[orleans]

44. your "clicker"? i thought the folks in my household were the only

people who used the word "clicker"

(honey? is that you?)

[MADem]

56. We have one person who calls it a WAND.... NT

[tinfoilinfor2005]

57. We are "clicker" people here too.

Although the seven year old calls it the Moakin control. :)

[wildbilln864]

35. Good riddance!

:eyes:

[mitchum]

37. She's going to play Harvey Fierstein's fraternal twin in a new sitcom

[hatrack]

40. Did the larnyx transplant make her unemployable at MSNBC?

God, I hope not!!

:sarcasm:

[ContraBass Black]

43. She crashed a funeral?

Damn.

[orleans]

45. good. i've been waiting for her to get off msnbc. (go back to faux) n/t

[BlooInBloo]

47. Don't let the door hit'cha where the good lord split'cha.

[Vinca]

49. She couldn't go wrong to check out positions at the National Enquirer. nt

[Bonobo]

52. Squeak, squeak, get lost!

[npincus]

53. she had throat surgery recently (no joke)

which supposedly reduced her raspiness. (?)

[Cass]

54. I sure wish they'd replace one of Tucker's daily shows with a left-leaning host.

Rachel Maddow or Phil Donohue would rock. The airwaves are saturated with right wing hosts - Hannity, Beck, Scarborough, Tucker, O'Rielly. What's their problem with hiring just one other leftie host besides Olbermann?

I had to shut my kitchen TV off this morning while making breakfast. Between MSNBC and CNN I was getting a headache with their inane BS. Its gotten to the point that I only watch cable news for Olbermann and occasionally Wolf Blitzer.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

58. I wasn't aware that Joan Rivers was retiring.

I guess someone will eventually need to replace her to harass people on that red carpet.

[Spirochete]

59. Let me guess...

She's going to become an opera singer. She can do the opera version of "Bette Davis Eyes".

[jollyreaper2112]

60. good riddence

One question, are the transsexualinistas going to be upset if we point out she has a dude voice? Because she does! And Ann Coulter has an Adam's apple.